Communicating esthetic elements between dentists and technicians is often a challenge. Ideally, the technician who is fabricating the restorations should see the patient; however, the vast majority of restorations are fabricated by off-site technicians who do not have access to the patients. Through 20 years of clinical experience and fabricating restorations without ever having met with the patients, Naoki Aiba has developed systematic techniques of communicating the esthetic elements for a successful outcome. In particular, this lecture discusses the three major esthetic challenges in laboratory communication—shade mismatch, canted midline, and incisal edge disharmony—using photographs and study casts. Clinical applications will also be presented through a number of cases fabricated with Mr Aiba’s systematic techniques.

Naoki Aiba, CDT, maintains his laboratory, Science Art, Inc, specializing in high-esthetic ceramic works in Monterey, California, and offers hands-on workshops at his teaching facility, Oral Design Monterey. Mr Aiba was a recipient of the Young Speaker of the Year Award, by Dr John McLean, OBE, of the International Society for Dental Ceramics in 1989. In 1992, he was appointed by Swiss master ceramist, Mr Willi Geller, to be a member of Oral Design. Since then, he has lectured, instructed hands-on courses, and published research papers on ceramic restorations, dental photography, and dentist-laboratory esthetic communications. He is an honorary member of the Swedish Dental Association, and currently serves on the editorial boards of Quintessence of Dental Technology and Spectrum Dialogue.